2009 Nuevo Laredo raid

The 2009 Nuevo Laredo raid occurred on 16 December 2009, when the Sinaloa Cartel, Gulf Cartel, and Mexican Navy launched an assault on the city of Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, in an attempt to take it over from Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano's Los Zetas organization. The raid was led by the likes of Ismael Zambada Garcia and Antonio Cardenas Guillen, who engaged in a firefight with Lazcano's Los Zetas bodyguards on a street as Lazcano's armored vehicle (equipped with a machine gun) pinned down several Mexican Marines on another street. The shootout left several dead on both sides, including Cardenas Guillen, who was personally executed by Lazcano Lazcano for betraying him in exchange for the release of his brother Osiel Cardenas Guillen from prison. Lazcano would manage to escape in a body bag, but all of his men in Nuevo Leon were killed, and the Sinaloa Cartel took over the city. The concurrent takeover of Ciudad Juarez and the arrest of Juarez Cartel boss Vicente Carrillo Fuentes, as well as the death of Beltran Leyva Cartel boss Arturo Beltran Leyva in a military operation in Cuernavaca, ensured that all of El Chapo's enemies were dealt with. El Chapo now became the most powerful crime lord in Mexico, having eliminated his rivals.